Beth Stevens “Strong Enough” (Pinecastle Records)  The Churchmen - “I’ll Be Long Gone” (Pinecastle Records)

Pinecastle Records will be releasing two new CD’s to radio this month. Beth Stevens’ “Strong Enough” and The Churchmen’s “I’ll Be Long Gone.” Both CD’s are currently set for an October 14 street date.

Beth Stevens
“After traveling on the road with her family for over 20 years, East Tennessee native Beth Stevens has found a new home with Pinecastle Records. Beth Stevens has been performing since the age of 12 years old. The eldest daughter of the Stevens Family band decided to take up the banjo and it wasn’t long before she quickly picked up the piano, guitar, dobro and bass. She also wrote her first song at the age of 12, which lead to a string of many original songs that Beth penned along with the help of her family.” Pinecastle Records

“Strong Enough” was produced by Scott Vestal and includes guest appearances from Jesse Cobb, Matt Leadbetter, Steve Thomas, Dale Ann Bradley and Steve Gulley. The album contains eight originals and songs “that cut across bluegrass, blues, country and gospel.”

The Churchmen
“I’ll Be Long Gone” features 7 original tunes written by David Guthrie, along with Jason Barie, Rick Pardue, and Josh Manning. David penned 4 of the originals with Jason, Rick, and Josh each contributing one song each. The remaining songs are Bluegrass Gospel standards or re-makes with a new twist.” The Churchmen

The Churchmen were formed in 1989 when they began singing in local churches together. The Southern Gospel style, four-part harmony, along with bluegrass instrumentation, gives them a unique sound that has gained them attention on a nation-wide level including 2 DOVE Award nominations. The group consists of five Christian men, and each one feels that God personally calls him into music ministry. Pinecastle Records

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Nashville, Tenn. — Viewers worldwide will have several chances to tune in and see beloved bluegrass band The Grascals on television in July. The band will be out and about promoting their new Rounder Records album Keep On Walkin’ which hits stores July 15.

Kicking off their appearances is CMT’s Southern Fried BBQ on July 4. The Grascals will appear on the program all day with host Hazel Smith, Luke Bryan and more. The following day, July 5, wake up with the boys as they perform live in New York on the CBS Saturday Early Show and get cooking that night from 5-8 PM ET when they appear on CMT’s Southern Fried Flicks with Hazel Smith. The Grascals will also return to New York on July 18 for a performance on Fox and Friends.

After winning the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2005, The Grascals earned the IBMA Entertainer of the Year honor in both 2006 and 2007. Keep On Walkin’ will continue this tradition and break new ground for the group. Band members Terry Eldredge, Jamie Johnson, and Terry Smith are vocally tighter than ever and mandolin ace Danny Roberts and new banjo player Aaron McDaris lead the charge. Keep On Walkin’ delivers timely, yet timeless, cutting edge songs with a deep rooted appreciation of soul and musicianship.

“After five years of singing together, and especially the last three years of extensive touring, we think we’ve really been able to define our sound on this record,” said Grascals vocalist and guitarist Jamie Johnson. “The whole process of doing this album - from finding songs, to arranging them, recording and mixing - was relaxed and fun. We took our time so we could do things the way we wanted and treat each song with the care it deserved.”

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Lonesome River Band - “No Turning Back” (Rural Rhythm) hits streets on September 9.

Nashville, Tenn. — Rural Rhythm Records is very proud to announce a brand new single, “Them Blues ” by the Lonesome River Band that will be released to bluegrass radio on the next Rural Rhythm “Fresh Cuts & Key Tracks” Radio CD July 15, 2008. The song is from the band’s upcoming new album, “No Turning Back” scheduled for release September 9th. This will be the 12th album by this award-winning band comprised of Sammy Shelor (banjo, vocals), Brandon Rickman (guitar, vocals), Mike Hartgrove (fiddle), Andy Ball (mandolin, vocals), and Mike Anglin (bass, vocals).

Shelor commented today, “We are always looking to the future with Lonesome River Band and can’t wait for all our fans and friends to hear these great new songs on “No Turning Back.”

“I feel like we have reinvented the LRB sound with this band and I’m really excited about working with these guys - on stage and in the studio. With a reinvented sound, it seems like the right time to go a different direction with distribution and marketing, and we couldn’t have made a better choice than Rural Rhythm Records. The Passamano family has shown the same seriousness and dedication about their end of the business as we do about ours. I look forward to what we can accomplish together. It’s amazing that the band has gone on for 25 years, but you can’t simply rest on your laurels in the music business,” he continued.

Terry Herd of the Bluegrass Radio Network said, “Sammy Shelor once told me he only wanted to make CDs his fans would be proud of. With the release of “No Turning Back“, I just say wholeheartedly Mission Accomplished.” The CD includes songs by highly respected, songwriter and LRB band member Brandon Rickman who co-wrote: Dime Store Rings with Charlie Stefl; Not There Yet with Jerry Salley; Depression with Amanda Williams; and Long Way From Home with Kevin Denny.

Over the years, LRB band members have left to pursue solo or songwriting careers and many have left - only to return again. During those years however, one thing still remains - Lonesome River Band’s distinctive sound and popularity that never seems to change.

When Sammy Shelor and Ronnie Bowman joined Lonesome River Band in 1990, Shelor had just come off a six year stint with the popular Virginia Squires, but never envisioned himself leading LRB one day. The group’s breakout CD, “Carrying The Tradition“, released in 1991 included Shelor, Bowman, Dan Tyminski, and Lonesome River Band founder, Tim Austin. They recorded a second album, “Old Country Town,” before Tyminski accepted a gig with Alison Krauss & Union Station and Austin decided to leave the road to focus on his recording studio, Doobie Shea. At that time, Shelor and Bowman took over band management, and when Bowman left in 2001, Shelor found himself in charge, leading the band that had hired him years earlier. Over the years, LRB included the likes of Kenny Smith, Don Rigsby, Ron Stewart, and Rickie Simpkins just to name a few of the stellar musicians that have toured and recorded with the group.

Lonesome River Band’s long career is obviously filled with a multitude of Awards and Recognitions including the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) honoring the group with the Album of the Year award and an amazing four-time award wins for Shelor as Banjo Performer of the Year. The group has also received recognition by SPBGMA for multiple Bluegrass Band of Year wins, Vocal Group of the Year, Song of the Year and Shelor as Banjo Player of the Year.

The Lonesome River Band is now on tour at festivals and concerts throughout the country including July festival appearances at the Music in the Mountains, OATS Bluegrass Festival, Wayside Bluegrass Festival, Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, Lowell Folk Festival and more. For a complete schedule and more information on the band, please visit www.lonesomeriverband.com

Rural Rhythm Records has more information on The Lonesome River Band on their site at
http://ruralrhythm.com/LonesomeRiverBand.htm including new photos, song clips (coming soon) and more album information.

“No Turning Back” Track Listing:

1. Them Blues
2. Like a Train Needs a Track
3. Dime Store Ring
4. One Littel Teardrop
5. Wires and Wood
6. Somebody’s Missing You
7. I’m Not There Yet
8. Long Way From Home
9. Depression
10. Molly
11. Darkness Wept
12. I’d Worship You
13. Struttin’ To Ferrum
14. Flowers

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Donna the Buffalo - “Silverlined” on Sugar Hill Records will be released July 8.

Nashville, Tenn. — Donna the Buffalo is twenty years young this year and as energized as ever. Their 7th record, Silverlined, which will be released on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 on Sugar Hill Records, builds on Donna the Buffalo’s signature sound — a bedrock of traditional mountain music infused with elements of Cajun, rock, folk, reggae and country. Throughout Silverlined, these undulating rhythms carry the original lyrics, and alternating vocals, of founding members Tara Nevins and Jeb Puryear along a powerful, mesmerizing current.

Donna the Buffalo represents one of most respected ‘brands’ in the world of touring roots acts. The band has put countless miles on their vintage biodiesel bus playing the country’s most prestigious festivals and clubs. Their fervent fan base, nicknamed The Herd, follows the band with zeal and has created a unique and supportive community online and at DTB shows across the nation. As an extension of this community and the band’s own dedication to live roots music, Donna the Buffalo started its own annual event — The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance — in upstate NY which draws more than 15,000 people every year.

Unlike their last record, Life’s a Ride, which was recorded in DTB’s home studio, (The Tracking Shack, in Perry City, New York) Silverlined went many miles, and has many hands in its making. Only one track was recorded in their home studio; two were recorded at Yes Master studio in Nashville, Tennessee, ten at Echo Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina, and several vocal tracks were laid down at Sound Cell Studio in Huntsville, Alabama. Silverlined was co-produced with — and engineered by — New York-based recording engineer Joe Blaney, whose eclectic list of clients includes the diverse talents of Keith Richards, Prince, and Blues Traveler.

Rounding out DTB with Nevins (vocals, guitar, fiddle, accordion) and Puryear (vocals, guitar) are Tom Gilbert, drums (eleven years with DTB), David McCracken, keyboards, and Jay Sanders, bass (he recently replaced Bill Reynolds who’s off with Band of Horses). Silverlined also includes the talents of such well-known guests as Béla Fleck, Claire Lynch, David Hidalgo and Amy Helm.

Silverlined Track Listing:

1. Temporary Misery 3:20
2. Tomorrow Still Knows 4:51
3. Locket And Key 3:20
4. Garden Of Eden 3:52
5. Broken Record 3:18
6. Meant To Be 3:48
7. Biggie K 3:26
8. Silverlined 3:08
9. The Call 5:03
10. I Don’t Need A Riddle 2:53
11. Blue Eyes 4:03
12. Beauty Within 3:03
13. Forty Days And Forty Nights 3:55

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Nashville, Tenn. — Sugar Hill Records is set to release two new titles as part of their Americana Master Series. Ricky Skaggs: Best of the Sugar Hill Years and Doc Watson: Best of the Sugar Hill Years will both hit the streets on July 8th, 2008. Researched and compiled from each artist’s body of work on the label, these tracks were culled from radio chart toppers, fan mail, downloads, and songs and tunes that are recurrent favorites at live performances.

Doc Watson

Doc Watson “Americana Master Series - Best of the Sugar Hill Years” (Sugar Hill Records)

Doc Watson has been an iconic influence on every acoustic guitar player that has come in his wake. A recipient of the National Heritage Award and the National Medal of Arts, Watson’s contribution to the American folk idiom is immeasurable. For the Americana Master Series, Watson’s Sugar Hill releases - which span over 40 years from 1960 through 2006 - were meticulously combed for the best representation of both the virtuosity that embodies his work, as well as its breadth.

From bluegrass selections that exemplify the flat-picking that has become Watson’s calling card to gospel and traditional tunes featuring his soulful vocals, the collection draws upon solo work as well as duets with son Merle and collaborations with Bryan Sutton and Marty Stuart. Also included are tunes featuring the guitarist on banjo and slide guitar, demonstrating the icon’s virtuosity and deep connection to Appalachian roots music.

Doc Watson: Best of the Sugar Hill Years Track listing:

1. Slidin Delta 2:00
2. My Dear Old Southern Home 2:22
3. Country Blues 3:24
4. You Must Come In At The Door 2:14
5. Greenville Trestle High 3:26
6. Bright Sunny South 2:34
7. Let The Church Roll On 2:55
8. My Little Woman, Youre So Sweet 2:19
9. Watson Blues 3:31
10. Wreck Of The Number Nine 2:51
11. Solid Gone 3:01
12. Whiskey Before Breakfast 2:53
13. What Does The Deep Sea Say 3:30
14. Your Lone Journey 2:45

Ricky Skaggs

Ricky Skaggs “Americana Master Series - Best of the Sugar Hill Years” (Sugar Hill Records)

By the time Ricky Skaggs launched his solo career on Sugar Hill in 1979, he’d already amassed a resume that most retirees would envy. He’d been a member of Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys and the legendary Country Gentlemen. He’d made vital recordings with his friend and collaborator Keith Whitley. He’d been in Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band, and he’d been part of the pioneering neo-bluegrass band Boone Creek, whose album One Way Track had in fact been Sugar Hill’s first release as a label.

For all he did to bring roots to country, this collection is basted in bluegrass, a hand-picked anthology of the hand-picked music of Skaggs in his early years. Classics like “I’ll Stay Around” and “Little Cabin Home On The Hill” from Sweet Temptation show an artist who had internalized the sound and tone of the founding fathers, while Tony Rice’s guitar solos introduce overtones of innovation. With the string of Grammy-winning discs since, he’s returned to the form and function of his Sugar Hill years. He’s always been ahead of the curve with yesterday’s sounds, and you can hear why in these cuts.

Ricky Skaggs: Best of the Sugar Hill Years Track Listing:

1. Daniel Prayed 2:14
2. Ill Stay Around 2:35
3. Bury Me Beneath The Weeping Willow 2:41
4. Little Cabin Home On The Hill 3:21
5. Drifting Too Far From The Shore 2:15
6. Little Community Church 2:37
7. Im Not Broke, But Im Badly Bent 2:14
8. Head Over Heels In Love With You 2:13
9. The Old Crossroads 2:42
10. No Mother Or Dad 2:40
11. If I Needed You 3:15
12. Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies 2:34
13. I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome 2:15

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